Location
Mari El is an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation. It borders on the Chuvash Republic, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Udmurtia. Area: 26,500 km2. The capital is Yoshkar-Ola. It is located at the middle course of the Volga river in the basins of the rivers Vyatka and Vetluga.

Population
They call themselves mari. They live in three ethnic units: Hill Maris, Meadow Maris and Eastern Maris. The first two of them have also literary languages, Meadow Mari being also used by the Eastern Maris. Their earlier official name is Cheremis(s). The population of Mari El is approximately 750,000; 43% of the ethnic Maris living in the former Soviet Union reside in their own republic. Most Maris live in neighbouring areas. In the Mari Republic, Russian immigrants are the second largest population group, representing 48% of the total, Tatars 6% and Chuvash 1%. 52% of the Maris live outside the Mari Republic: in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and in the provinces of Kirov and Yekaterinburg.

The Maris are the only Finno-Ugric nation in Russia whose population has increased steadily, in spite of the slight decrease in the use of their native language. The Maris have retained their language better than any other Finno-Ugric nation. The percentage of Maris living in the Mari administrative territory and the proportion of the Maris in the population of the Mari Republic have remained relatively unchanged.

Language
The language of the Maris is Volga-Finnic, a branch of the Uralic family of languages.

Organisations
The Maris are represented by Mari Ushem, the National Movement, in order to seek support for the preservation and development of their national culture and identity.

Economy
The most important resource of the Mari Republic are its forests. Other industries include metallurgy, paper, woodworking and food processing. Mari is one of the few agricultural areas in the world where bee-keeping has a market economic importance.

Turning Points in the History of the Maris
In the 8th c., Khazar influence became dominant. By the mid 9th c., the Volga Bulgarians had significantly increased their cultural and political influence in the region, and displaced Khazar influence among the Maris. The Volga-Bulgarians remained in control until the arrival of the Mongol-Tatars in the 1230's.

2nd half of the 16th c. Defensive battles of the Maris, in the Russian history known as Cheremiss wars (1552-1557, 1572-1574, 1581-1584) ended in defeat and, as a chronicler has said, the marshes, lakes and rivers were filled with the bones of the Maris and the earth saturated with their blood. Many Maris resettled east, Russian colonization started; Russian Orthodox missionaries first reached the Mari in the 16th c., and began the long, difficult attempt to convert them to Christianity.

18th century Tsarist Russia suppressed the cultural development of the Mari. The migration of Maris continues under the increased ideological pressure exercised by the Russians (extensive conversion to Orthodoxy). The Mari national territory is divided among the provinces of Kazan, Vyatka and Nizhni Novgorod.

In the early 1800's, Russian nationalists began to worry about all the distinct nationalities among them, and the missionary work was intensified. A Cyrillic alphabet was developed for the Kuryk Mari, to help the missionary work. Some religious texts first appeared in the Olyk alphabet. Most of the Kuryk Mari accepted Russian Orthodoxy, but the Olyk and Upo Mari, living on the other side of the Volga, retained most of their animist faith. Some Maris converted to Islam under the influence of neighbouring Tatars and Bashkirs.

In the 19th c., overt Mari political nationalism emerged. In the 1870's, a rebellion broke out, led by the religious-nationalist organization Kugu Sorta, protesting against the missionary work of the Russian Orthodox church. The Kugu Sorta was especially influential among the Olyk and Upo Mari, and these groups to date retain substantially more of their religious standards than do the Kuryk Maris.

1920: The Mari language was eliminated from schools and the culture suffered from mass collectivization.

1930's: Mass repressions, most of the Mari intellectuals are exterminated.

1936: The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created.

1950's: The rise of a new wave of Russian industrialization and colonization.

1960's: Rapid decline in the use of Mari language in the community.

1990: The Supreme Soviet of Mari El declared sovereignty of the republic.

1991: Mari El became a member of UNPO.

Current situation
In January 1997 presidential elections were held in the Republic of Mari. In the final round of the elections, both final candidates were Russians who did not speak the Mari language. The elections were won by V. Kislitsy. Since the beginning of his term, many Mari officials have been removed from key positions in society and have been replaced by Russians.

Danger Signs
The Maris are very dispersed (52% are living outside the Mari Republic), there are not many who would resettle in their Republic. The Maris are a minority even in the Mari Republic. Immigration has brought newcomers chiefly into the cities. The percentage of the ethnic Maris in the town population has slowly increased (1959 - 11.3%; 1970 - 15.6%; 1979 - 21.7%; 1989 - 26.1%). Nevertheless, for the Maris urbanisation means Russification. The Russian language is dominant, because it is the language of government, official business and education. It occupies the central and most visible position. Since Russian prevails in schools and nursery schools, there are important domains (such as flora and fauna, for example), where young Maris are unable to communicate in their native language. Russian has even penetrated into the family and home sphere (in 1979 13.4% of families spoke Russian at home; in 1985 33.4%) and even becomes the mother tongue (for 11.4% of Maris, 23.3% or urban Maris). Only 5% of Mari children borrow books in the Mari language from the libraries to read. According to a sociological inquiry of 1994, 62.7% of the Meadow Maris and 91.8% of the Hill Maris use only their native language to communicate with their parents, while only 23.3% and 60.9%, respectively, use the native language to communicate with their school-aged children. The Mari language and culture are chiefly upheld by the rural population.

There are documented examples to demonstrate that the Maris are also discrimated against socio-economically. The immigrant Russians are privileged in employment, salaries and in obtaining suitable accommodation. Examples (1985):

Signs of Hope
The Maris have shown their initiative and spirit after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. In 1989 the legal national political movement Mari Ushem (Mari Union) was (re-)established, as well as the political party Ushem; the Mari Congress and its elected Council represent the whole Mari nation. Since 1990, Mari schools have been restored, and congregations of their indigenous nature religion have been founded. That a nature religion gets governmental support is unique in the whole of Europe.

Sources:
Endangered Uralic Peoples
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO)
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs [NUPI] - Centre for Russian Studies
Photos: Seppo Lallukka, Paul Fryer

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